Man held in cell charged with flooding jail facility

August 13, 2003

FOX LAKE — A man being held in the Fox Lake Jail tampered with the sprinkler system in his cell and flooded the facility, shutting down the Police Department's communication system for several hours last week, police said Tuesday.

Anthony R. Meehan, 21, of the 2300 block of Highwood Road, McHenry, has been charged with felony criminal damage to state-owned property and disorderly conduct. Meehan had been arrested about 1 a.m. Friday at Famous Freddies Roadhouse, 510 Park Ave., after he urinated in public, Police Chief Edward Gerretsen said.

Meehan wrapped his shirt around a sprinkler in a holding cell and managed to turn it on, flooding the public safety section of Village Hall, 301 S. Illinois Highway 59, Gerretsen said.